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The Townshend Acts Facts

The Townshend Acts Facts
The Parliament of Great Britain passed a series of acts called the Townshend Acts, beginning in 1767, in an effort to place more control over their colonies in North America, and to regain some of the money they had already spent on conflicts to defend their land in North America. The colonies were not happy with the control the British government was exerting over them with taxation on goods such as tea, paper, paint, glass, and lead being imported into the colonies. These taxes proved to be a major instigating factor for the Boston Massacre on March 5th, 1770. Because of the amount of resistance by the colonists, almost all of the Townshend duties were repealed in 1770 by coincidence, on the same day that the Boston Massacre took place. Neither side knew what was occurring on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean that day. The only tax that remained was the tea tax.
Interesting The Townshend Acts Facts:
The Townshend Acts were named after Charles Townshend, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer), and the taxes were imposed on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.
These taxes were imposed on the colonists in the 13 colonies in America. Because none of the colonies had representation in the British Parliament the colonies believed the taxes were unfair.
The British government believed that the taxes would help them to recoup some of the money spent fighting in the French and Indian War. The British victory meant that much of France's land holdings in North America had been claimed by Britain.
The taxes were called 'duties' in an attempt to avoid angering Americans, who had already been so angered by the Stamp Act that the British repealed the Act after only one year.
The money collected on duty was to be used for a defense fund, and to pay colonial governors and judges a high enough wage that they would remain loyal to Britain.
The anger and resentment of the colonists began to build up immediately, resulting in riots and by 1768 tensions were so high that Britain sent troops aboard ships to live in Boston and make a show of British rule.
In 1770 the Boston Massacre occurred, on the same day that Britain was repealing all of the Townshend Acts but one - the tea tax.
The repeal of most of the Townshend Acts led to a temporary truce between the colonies and Britain.
In 1772 the British boat Gaspee was burned, adding to the conflict between Britain and its colonies in America.
The Boston Tea Party took place in 1773 in protest of the tea tax, in which a shipment of British tea was dumped into the Boston Harbor.
The colonists divided into the Patriots and the Loyalists (loyal to Britain), and the two sides fought in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783.
In 1783 a peace treaty between the British Empire and the new United States was signed and the Townsend Acts were left to the history books.


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